43rd annual Polar Bear Dip

The only thing more astonishing about the annual Polar Bear Dip than the enthusiasm with which people hurl themselves into the frigid waters of Lake Michigan is the almost supernatural way they vanish when it’s over.

The 43rd annual dip Tuesday brought 301 dippers and more than 1,000 onlookers to Deland Park.

Despite treacherous ice, which organizers spent hours moving to clear paths into and out of the lake, Polar Bear Club member and perennial dipper Larry Pratt was pleased with the event.

“We didn’t have the crowd for dippers again that we would like but it’s a thumbs up,” said Larry Pratt, 57, after the jump was over.

The build-up for the dip begins hours before the 1 p.m. start time, with dippers gathering at Dave’s Who’s Inn and at Highland House restaurant to eat, drink and gather their courage before the big moment.

The celebratory vibe comes from the combination of experienced dippers and their novice friends, but when the dip is over, people scatter.

Changing out of their wet clothes in huddles on the beach or in their cars, dippers do not hang around long.

The official air temperature for Tuesday’s dip was 15 degrees, with a wind chill of 0. The water temperature was 32 degrees.

For his 24th trip into the lake, Mark Brockman was wearing his T-shirt from the 1988 dip — the coldest on record with a wind chill of 38 degrees below zero.

“You’ve got to do it once,” said Brockman, 46, of Sheboygan. “After that, you will always want to do it again.”

He’s so committed, in fact, that he coaxed his soon-to-be stepson James Brower, 19, of Delavan, into joining him.

“It’s just something I want to do,” Brower said. “I’m kind of psyched about it.”

Ace Guse, 47, of Howards Grove, went in for his first dip that bitterly cold day in 1988, and has been doing it ever since. This year, he assembled a crew of about 17 people to go along.

That includes nephew Parker Guse, 21, of Greensboro, N.C., who only confronted the reality of the event minutes before leaving Dave’s Who’s Inn for the lakefront.

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“I didn’t really think about the cold at first,” he said. “Then I got up here and saw it was snowing.”

In contrast, Kyle “The Gator” Heim, 25, of Howards Grove, couldn’t have been less concerned about the cold.

Decked out in a handmade blaze orange bikini swimsuit, orange arm bands and fringed leg bands, a white fright wig and red face paint, Heim was looking for a reaction.

“Last year I wore Daisy Dukes,” he said, referring to the ultra-short denim shorts once worn by a character on the 1980s Dukes of Hazzard TV show. “(I want to) brighten people’s day.”

Sean Babino, 25, of Appleton, who was part of Heim’s group, stayed with the Daisy Duke theme, but he had a little help.

Wearing blue tights, his mother’s stars and stripes bikini bottom and his wife’s cut-off denim shorts left unbuttoned, Babino had a good laugh at his own expense.

“That’s to show off the bikini bottom,” he said of the open-fly shorts. “They fit.”

The prize for the longest distance traveled went to Lorena Chaves, 17, an exchange student from Paraguay.

A student at North High School, Chaves is living with the Schnelle family of Sheboygan and was undecided about whether she’d actually go through with the dip.

Until Tuesday morning, that is.

“All the people are going,” she said. “I decide now — this morning.”

And she was clear on the rules: “I have to wet my hair.”

Justin Bohn, 30, a member of the Polar Bear Club along with his father and founding member Art Bohn, said he spent about three hours Tuesday morning trying to create a safe passage into the water.

“It’s not ideal,” said Bohn, who was preparing for his 22nd dip. “Right before we jump in I’m going to have to get my shovel.”

Members of the Coast Guard were on hand to help people into and out of the water, and the Sheboygan Fire Department was also on the scene in case of emergency, Pratt said.

In addition, members of Crossroads Community Church handed out hot chocolate to dippers and onlookers and also helped clean up after the event was over.